Optimizing on mobile usage cost for the lower income group: Insights and recommendations

Abstract

There is an increasing trend in the penetration of mobile phones towards the lower strata (lower income) group of the society. Cost is perceived as the governing factor which determines the adoption of mobile phones in this group. This paper explores the effect of cost on the usage of mobile phones and proposes an enhanced design with features that optimize its usage cost for lower income group. These features help determine and restrict call duration, proactively alert user on usage deviations and avoid early call terminations. Preliminary evaluations of the enhanced design were decidedly positive about the effectiveness in controlling and optimizing mobile usage cost. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2007.